•Gateway for trail connections for South County, including the cities of San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point.

•22.2-acres at La Pata and Ortega Highway across from Rancho Mission Viejo headquarters.Will include visitor center, natural habitat and walkways and a one-acre equestrian-staging area.

•Measure Y was passed by San Juan Capistrano in 2008 for a $30 million bond to be used for purchase and preservation of open space.

•Purchased for $27.5 million from the Rancho Mission Viejo Co.

•It also includes a 76.9-acre Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano, which will host at least 30 international host events a year. It's now leased to Blenheim Show Park.

Find out about local trails

The San Clemente Trail Map is available at local bike shops. It also can be found on the city's website, san-clemente-org.

Barry Wood, an avid mountain biker, rides four hours, two days a week along trails in south Orange County.

Wood of San Clemente is among a handful of residents that helped create a map of trails in and around San Clemente two years ago to help outdoor enthusiasts enjoy nature along the coast and throughout the hilly areas of Talega and the Cleveland National Forest.

"It's a lot nicer to just leave your house and go," the 51-year-old said. "Not many people here know you can get some really nice rides and hikes in even though you're not far from homes and businesses. A friend put together a mountain bike ride for 40 miles and riders never on the same trail twice. It ranged from San Clemente to San Juan and back."

Now, with grading beginning at Sendero, the first of multiple villages planned for the new Rancho Mission Viejo community, equestrians, hikers and mountain bikers will get to travel south Orange County's mountain-to-sea trail. The trail connects O'Neill Regional Park and the Cleveland National Forest to the beach communities of San Clemente and Dana Point.

Sendero links trails that lead to the expansion of O'Neill Regional Park, including 440 acres of the Arroyo Trabuco Wilderness Area, traveling south from the park's former boundary near Oso Parkway to the upper nine holes of the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Course, near the end of Avery Parkway.

The trail linkages make up the final 3.5 miles of connecting trails from Cleveland National Forest to O'Neill Regional Park with trails inside the expansion area and along the western border of the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Course to San Juan Capistrano's trail system.

The ranch development will include multiple trails within the Sendero community that will eventually connect to trails in Caspers Wilderness Park. The trails in Sendero are expected to open to the public this summer. The additional trails leading to Caspers are being planned as more of the villages are developed, said Richard Broming, senior vice president of planning and entitlement for the ranch.

"Since the 1950s, when the Rancho Mission Viejo family first donated the initial acres to establish O'Neill Regional Park to today and the ongoing open space additions to The Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo, we've made trails creation an importation part of our community building," Broming said. "That tradition continues at Sendero as well as each of the villages to come on the ranch as we provide important trail linkages to local city and county regional trails, including south Orange County's first mountains-to-the-sea connection."

Local trail advocates in San Juan Capistrano welcomed the O'Neill trail connection and say it fits perfectly with the 22-acre Reata Parks and Events Center, an area recently acquired by San Juan Capistrano. The equestrian staging area will hook up with a 54-mile system of San Juan Capistrano trails.

"This really extends the adventure and lets you ride further," said Jim Carter, who owns American Horse Products. "Doesn't everyone want more adventure? That's what a horse is. This brings riding to other communities."

The ranch's trail connections will be done in partnership with San Juan Capistrano. As the trails are built, the city will work to improve several of the existing trails in the area.

Shelly Barker, a longtime equestrian and member of the San Juan Business Council, and Renee Ritchie, an equestrian who is on the city's Open Space, Trails and Equestrian Committee, said they have questions about the effects the 17,000-home ranch development might have on the equestrian community. While they're not fans of more homes – and the expected increase in traffic and congestion – the women expect the city and the ranch will collaborate on future trail plans.

"We hope we will be able to merge our trail system in a safe and sensible manner," said Barker, who rides her palomino at least two hours a day.

In San Clemente, Wood sees an increase in people hiking, mountain-biking and riding. One reason might be the San Clemente trail map that has exposed people to unknown treasures around town and in the local hills. Wood often sees hikers and bikers looking at it when he's out riding.

But he also looks ahead to what the ranch's additional trails to the forest and Caspers could mean.

"A connection with Caspers would be pretty cool. It's always a challenge to make that work," he said.

"Events like the 50-mile Ride (this year for Rwanda) are nice because it exposes people to trails they don't know," he said. "Opening up the connectivity now (the O'Neill extension) will open San Juan and San Clemente up for the people who live there. The more connectivity you make, the more opportunity you have to get out there."

John Clifton rides his horse, Sancho, along the creek part of the San Juan Creek Trail in San Juan Capistrano recently while Phil Montgomery and his horse, Cutter, follows. Michael Goulding
The San Juan Creek Trail ends at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point. Michael Goulding
John Clifton rides his horse, Sancho, along the San Juan Creek Trail in San Juan Capistrano recently followed by Tom Geisz on his horse, Dakota and Sherry Clifton riding Shorty. Michael Goulding
Jim Carter, Renee Ritchie and Shelly Barker sit at the entrance to a horse friendly park, Reata Park and Event Center, along the San Juan Creek Trail in San Juan Capistrano. Michael Goulding
Riders make use of the San Juan Creek Trail in San Juan Capistrano recently. Michael Goulding

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